IDP resettlement to complete soon [November 18 2011]

The government will complete the resettling Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) shortly. The resettlement Ministry has resettled almost 97 percent of the IDPs in their native villages by October this year. They were displaced soon after the 2009 humanitarian operation, Cabinet Spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.

Addressing the weekly Cabinet press briefing held at the Government Information Department Auditorium yesterday, Minister Rambukwella said that on a proposal made by Resettlement Minister Gunaratne Weerakoon, the Cabinet has decided to allocate Rs. 1,336 million to complete the resettlement of remaining IDPs in their native villages.

Minister Rambukwella said that 1,687 families will be resettled in the Mullaitivu district while another 1,272 families are to be resettled in Muttur in the Trincomalee District.

Another 166 families are to be resettled in the Mannar District, with the assistance of the Security Forces.

"Each family will be provided a core house with a permanent toilet in addition to wells and other facilities," he said.

"Sri Lanka successfully resettled IDPs within a short time and enabled IDPs to resettle in their original homes while some other countries are still struggling with their resettlement programmes," he added.